Article holding album



June 14, 1949. L. GEIS EII'AL 2,473,333

ARTICLE HOLDING ALBUM Fi'led Feb. 15, 1944 R0602 E. Pope Leri'fir G'ezlr attorney 3nventor Patented June 14, 1949 UNITED STATES OFFICE.

ARTICLE HOLDING Lester Geis, New York, and Robert E. Home; Setauket, N. Y., assignors to Radio Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware.

Application February 15, 1944, 'SeriaINb. 5224-5 13 (Cl. 1292Q).

2 Claims.

This. invention relates to an article-holding album, and particularly to an album. for holding comparatively fragile. articles such as phonegraph r.e'cords,.photographic plates and the like;

Albums of the character described ordinarily contain one of more. article-holding units or' envelopes; and once assembled, it is impossible,.

thumb openings; by-reason ofithe fact that the. article has. tobe grasped: firmly at such thumb opening between a thumb and a. finger.

An. envelope of a. conventional? album is ordinarily open at at least one edge and there is, therefore, nothing to prevent the entry of' dust or: other extraneous matter;

It is, therefore, the primary'object of this invention to provide an improved. article-holding album which will be free from the defectsof prior art albums.

It is a further object of this invention to pro vide an improved article-holding album constituted by units which may be quickly and easily assembled by comparatively unskilled labor using simple equipment.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved. article-holding album in which the number of article-holding units may be varied.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved article-holding" album which may be used interchangeably for difierent collections" of articles to be contained therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide" an improved article-holding album" of pleasing appearance and modern design.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved and simply constructed articleholding unit or envelope to be contained within an album, the unit having a cover to prevent theentry-or dust'or'other extraneous matter" am-l to enable an article.containedwithin the unit to be removed therefrom easily. and conveniently, and without danger of damageto said article.-

These and other objects. are. achieved: in. a preferred embodiment by providing an: album constituted by a pair of outer covers and a number oi article-holding. units. or envelopes, secured by simple means at: one edge thereof and having. a fold'line ad-jacent and.: parallel to that edgeras a result-of whichtlie albummay beopened; and

closedieasily. A tubularrbackingmember. for the? album has flexible overlapping: portions which.

embrace cooperative projections in: the: back; of

the. album,.andtlock in slots orrecesses= for-med in said back; The-wholes or. a part of this: cover may be of. transparent-material and an interchangeable; title-bearingr slip may be. inserted within the tubular member. The article-holding. units. or envelopes'have foldab'le flaps' formed-by angularly disposed. foldl lines, and are treated? so that theygremain open when the album is open, and so. that. articles in. the" envelopes may be easily removed therefrom and. replaced therein.

The invention? may be:v better. understood. from a consideration. of thefollowing more. detailed description. of a. preferred embodiment thereof; when. read in. conjunction: with. the accompanying drawing, inwhich':

Figure: 1 is a. plan. view of an. article-holding.

5; unit or envelope containedxinthe album,

1' can be best seen in Fig. 1.

Figure. 2 i's a plan. View: oi the backing member before referred to;

Figure: 3 is an enlarged sectional view takenon. the line; III-41H. of Figure; 2,-

Figure! is: an enlarged sectional view'throughi the. center-of: the: backing. member; taken on theline. IV--IV of." Figure 2 Figure: 5 is atbottom end view'of the album; and

Figure 6 is aview in perspective of'the album;

. in open. position.

Referring moreparticularly to the drawing, the

complete album is made upof outer" covers 2w and 2b, envelopes 4a, 4b, 40, etc'., and" a backi'ng member 6; Foruse with fragile articles, the covers; may be m'ade of cardboard or othersuitable; rigid material;- to: the outside surface of" which-a suitable decorative finish may beappliedi Thfli covers and envelopes are generally of the same outer configuration. This configuration The covers andenvelopes: may be permanently securedtogether atone edge 8",.as1byrivets: Illa, I no or by staples, or: the or; they may be joined by some suit able,. separable iastenen. so that: if it' is desired to alter the number of envelopes after assembly, it.isonlynecessary to remove the fasteners by which the: covers and envelopes. are joined.

Boththe covers and envelopes have a fold. line I Zadjacent. andiparallelto.theedgea, so.:that. the

album. may be.- openedl and closed easily. The

3 portion of the covers and envelopes between the fold line !2 and the edge 8 constitutes a back 20 for the album. The back is formed with slots or recesses 21a, 212; and projections 22a, 2%, extending therefrom, as best seen in Fig. 1.

The backing member 6 is made of a sheet of material formed into a tube. One edge 14 of this sheet is provided with a pair of overlapping portions Mia, [81) which overlap the opposite edge It along the marginal portions thereof. However, the two edges i4 and 16 are spaced from each other so as to form a slot 19 to receive the back 20. The overlapping portions I 8a, lBb of the backing members are of flexible material; they grip the projections 22a, 22b of the back in clutching relation, and lock in the slots or recesses 21a, 2|b so that the backing member holds firmly to the back. The assembled album thus assumes a pleasing appearance, and details of the assembly and binding are not immediately visible.

In the preferred embodiment, the backing member is made of a transparent plastic material, such as that known commercially as Lucite. This material is flexible, as well as transparent, so that the backing member 9 and its overlapping portions 18a, 1% are all made in one piece of the same material.

A title-bearing slip 24 may be simply inserted within the tubular backing member, and may be changed if it is desired to use the album for a collection of articles distinguished by a different title. If desired, only the outer portion of the backing member need be of transparent material. The backing member may be made of other material, for example steel, in which case the title-bearng slip may be attached to the outside of the tube.

Each envelope 4a, 41), etc. is preferably made of stiff paper or other flexible material, and in the preferred embodiment each envelope is open at its top edge 28. Leading from each edge 26 of each envelope is a separation 28 therein, such as a slit, a perforation, a notch or the like. A fold line 32, communicating with the slit 28, leads to another edge 30 of the envelope. In the preferred embodiment, the fold line 32 and slit 28 are on both faces 34 and 36 of the envelope. These fold lines constitute hinges and thereby create foldable flaps 34a and 36a, opening away from each other, which enable the articles within the envelope to be easily removed therefrom and replaced therein. It will be observed that by this means there is no danger of the record or other fragile article being broken, as there would be if the article were merely grasped at a thumb opening, as in the conventional articlecontaining album.

The fold lines 32 are preferably treated with a reinforcing material 38 which stifiens them and causes the flaps to assume their open position when the album is opened, and to retain that position as long as the album remains open. This may be best seen in the perspective view shown in Fig. 6.

The open edge 26 of each flap 34a, 36a may be turned inwards to a depth of approximately onesixteenth of an inch, so that when the envelope is in a closed position, the flaps meet in a line and thereby provide a cover for the article contained therein, in this simple manner prohibiting the entry of dust and other extraneous matter.

The position which an article, for example a record 40, will assume within the envelope is shown in Figs. 1 and 6. Each envelope may be provided with a central opening 42, so that the title of the article contained therein may be seen without removal of the article from the envelope.

There has thus been described an album of particularly simple construction and pleasing appearance, which may be assembled and disassembled with ease, and wherein the number of article-holding units may be varied at pleasure. The title of the album may be easily changed to correspond to the articles to be contained therein, and means are provided for facilitating the removal and replacement of such articles with ease, and with a minimum of danger from breakage.

Although only one embodiment of the invention has been shown, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that albums constructed in accordance With the invention may take other forms, and yet remain within the scope of the invention. Thus, while the tubular backing member has been shown as being provided with a pair of overlapping marginal portions, it may have but one overlapping portion, for example, in the center. Similarly, the slots or recesses in the back of the album and the projections therefrom may take different forms from those illustrated.

The slit 23 or other separation, although convenient, may be omitted if desired; and the fold line 32, instead of being angularly disposed in relation to the edges 26 and 39 of the envelope, may be disposed differently; for example, it may lead from one edge of the envelope across to the opposite edge thereof.

What we claim is:

1. An article-holding album comprising a, pair of outer covers and including at least on envelope between said covers for holding said article, said envelope and said covers being secured together at one of their edges, said envelope being constituted of stiffened flexible material and being open along at least one other edge thereof and having a fold line extending from a point adjacent said open edge to a point adjacent a third edge of said envelope, whereby to provide a flap which automatically opens when said covers are swung apart.

2. The article of claim 1 in which the material along said fold includes a reinforcing substance for further stiffening said material.

LESTER GEIS. ROBERT E. POPE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 537,656 Waters Apr. 16, 1895 618,821 Barber Feb. 7, 1899 879,573 Neuner Feb. 18, 1908 1,319,816 Ulrich Oct. 28, 1919 1,432,453 Finger Oct. 17, 1922 1,464,378 Wilburger Aug. 7, 1923 1,495,953 Dick May 27, 1924 1,970,285 Douvry Aug. 14, 1934 2,116,073 Mevi May 3, 1933 2,234,401 Farkas Mar. 11, 1941 2,314,204 Fontecilla Mar. 16, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 131,065 Germany 1902 283,296 Great Britain 1928 568,363 France 1923 

